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Mithya Web Series Review: Huma Qureshi & Avantika Dassani Are Fierce & Daunting In The Crime Thriller
Mithya does a great job at adapting the original. It takes a while to take off, which might turn away some audience. Nonetheless, with patience, Mithya is a show worth watching for a poetic ending
Available
On:
ZEE5
Duration:
6
Episodes
/
30
Minutes
Language:
Hindi
Plot: The show follows Hindi literature professor Juhi Adhikari accusing her student Rhea Rajguru of plagiarism. While Rhea pleads that she is innocent, Juhi continues to pursue punishment triggering adverse psychological combat between the two. Slowly a deeper, more complicated relationship emerges between the two as Juhi's husband- Neil Adhikari is murdered and both the women are plausible suspects.
Review: Mithya based on the British TV series Cheat (2019), experiments with the screenplay, direction as well as performances, most of which works in favour of the show. Mithya directed by Rohan Sippy, not only questions boundaries of morality but also tests the impact of individual beliefs.
Mithya opens with Juhi Adhikari (Huma Qureshi) and Rhea Rajguru (Avantika Dassani) on either side of a prison's visiting room. Each episode of the series begins with the familiar monochrome setting as Juhi asks Rhea to tell her the truth about the night the murder took place. For the first three episodes, the show focuses on Juhi and Rhea's professional life as teacher and student.
It begins five days before the death of Juhi's husband Neil Adhikari (Parambrata Chattopadhyay), with Juhi teaching her Hindi literature class. Rhea arrives late to the class already welcoming wrath from her teacher, but it gets worse when she is suspected of plagiarising her final paper for the term. Juhi refuses to reason with Rhea and fails her for the class. Rhea ends up retaliating by enticing Juhi with the threat of her trusty father and exposing secrets of Juhi's personal life.
Juhi can hardly afford to have more trouble landing her way, she is too focused on trying to make a name for herself, not as the daughter of a well known English author but as a Hindi Lit professor, HOD at the Darjeeling college and as a Hindi author. While she already has plenty on her plate, her husband Neil wants them to keep trying for a child, whether it means natural, hormonal treatments or IVF. Juhi and Neil have a tense relationship that gets worse when everyone around her believes she should let Rhea off with only a warning.
However, when she refuses to back down, Rhea takes extreme steps and invades Juhi's personal life. Stalking her, manipulating Neil behind Juhi's back and even acquiring notes and papers from college security staff. All ill-deeds point at Rhea as the culprit, still makers easily turn things around just in time for Huma to emerge as a suspect as well. (Keeping the details to a minimum for a spoiler-free review.)
While the first half begins slow, writers Anvita Dutta, Althea Kaushal, and Purva Naresh (dialogue) keep things interesting with well timed plot twists digging deeper into their personal life. Juhi and Rhea both are written as independent, stubborn and witty women, and it is interesting to watch them fight with opposite beliefs of what is right and wrong.
Rohan Sippy's control over the tone and perspective through the six episodes is immaculate. Cinematographer Sirsha Ray and editor Abhijit Deshpande bring out the best in some of the heavy expose scenes that come off creepy when needed. The show continues to remind the audience that they are seeking the truth about the night, but at the end, it raises another question, truth about what led both of them on different paths.
Huma as Juhi early on seems awkward, not just fighting in terms of her character but the actress herself, which does wonders for her character in later episodes. Similarly, Avantika Dassani also managed to bring sympathy to an antagonist. She makes Rhea's illogical decisions and lies seem worthwhile and believable. Meanwhile, supporting actors Rajat Kapoor, KC Shankar as well as Bishakha Thapa who plays a female cop, bring out the best in the leading characters in every scene.
Mithya does a great job at adapting the original in an Indian setting with characters speaking in 'Shudh Hindi'. The show however takes a while to take off, which might turn away some audience. Nonetheless, with patience, Mithya is a show worth watching for a poetic and traumatising ending.
